A. General Information
i. The African Honey bee
· Apis mellifera scutellata
· Africanized honeybee
· African honey bee
· killer bee
ii. Description
1. How they look
· Brownish
· A little fuzzy
2. Where their from
· Is about 3/4 inch long
· Subspecies of the European honey bees
· first hybridized in South America
B. Detailed Description
i. About them
1. Life Cycle
a. The Queen bee lays eggs in a cell of the comb
b. After the egg hatches, worker bees feed the larva
c. When the larva is fat and full it gets sealed up by the worker bee
d. The lava then spins a cocoon
e. The stage of what it turns to is called the pupa
f. When it is fully developed it leaves its sealed cell to as an adult bee

bee-life-cycle.gif

ii. Diet
1. What do they eat?
· Bees eat nectar (sugary water) and pollen (yellow protein powder) which are made by flowers.
· Babies are fed lots of pollen, because they need the protein to grow
iii. This organism is successful because
1. A number of things
· Aggression
o Africanized bees may respond aggressively to everyday occurrences such as vibrations generated by passing vehicles, power equipment, and even foot traffic.
· Stinging
o venom is no more potent than that of our native European honey bee but their numbers make them dangerous
c. Habitat and Distribution
i. Where these organisms live
1. Generally
· Texas
o But moved north esp. California
ii. Where this organism used to live
· Originally from Africa
o First hybridized in South America
d. Impacts
i. Ecological Impacts
1. Positive
2. Negative
· They hurt native species
· Also they harm near and in some cases far off pedestrians
3. Is there hybridization with native species
· Imported and bred with European honey bees to increase honey production
ii. Human Impacts
1. Health
·
2. Economic
· Bad for the economy
o impact on honey production industry